Herbert, New Zealand

Herbert

The small town of Herbert lies in North Otago, New Zealand, almost 100 kilometres to the north of Dunedin and 22 kilometres to the south of Oamaru. It lies on the edge of the Herbert Forest. Herbert - formerly "Otepopo", consists of a group of houses and 3 churches clustered around State Highway No 1. A service station is also the postal agency. Two main industries operate in Herbert; an agricultural, industrial and forestry helicopter base and a poultry unit. Surrounding the settlement is rolling and fertile pastureland. On a northfacing site 300 metres from the town is the Otepopo School. This is a primary school for children from 5 to about 13 years old. Thereafter, the children are bussed into Oamaru for furthering their education.

Some five kilometres south of Herbert is the farming settlement of Waianakarua. The old stone bridge at Waianakarua is the oldest that is still used by the New Zealand State Highway network. This bridge was dismantled stone by stone in 2004, and rebuilt 2 metres wider. In 2005 it was reopened as part of the State Highway network again. Alongside this bridge is an early example of a flourmill (now meals and accommodation [1]) and 3 km upstream from the bridge is an historical site of another early flourmill, alongside the remains of a dam. The son of Burt Munro, portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the film "The World's Fastest Indian, resides in Waianakarua and has Burt's (now famous) motorcycle among his possessions. Pig hunting and sea and river fishing are some of the activities available in the Herbert and Waianakarua district.

Otepopo school had been closed in September 2010, due to the rapid decline of school roll. The peak of pupils was 22 last year, but dropped to 4 before its closure.